The Evening and the Morning
by Unashamed1
Summary: When the world is comming down around your ears, at least you know that one thing stays the same. Lily\James. One-shot for now.


Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize (apart from the Shakespeare quotes, of course) belongs to our literary hero, J.K. Rowling. I make nothing from it—and I shouldn't. She deserves to make the big bucks.

The Evening and the Morning

Chapter 1

"_Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops: I must be gone and live, or stay and die." (Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 5) _

Lily stayed up all night the day it happened; sat up against the main staircase when she finally got too tired to help the rest of us remove the splintered wood and broken stone from the floor.

About three AM, when the Great Hall looked almost normal again, she went back upstairs with the other girls from the Order. Twelve hours later, the rest of us were beginning to feel the aches in our shoulders and reacquaint ourselves with the waking world, but she still hadn't come down. I was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs, holding my face over a second cup of Earl Grey, when a light breeze and heavy stomping noise passed me.

"Ming," I was a little surprised when she paused. I watched her back until she turned to face me, noticing her muscles and wondering how she could be so tense on so little sleep. Her face softened a little as she met my eyes.

"She's still up there." Her voice was flat, soft. A simple answer to a non-existent question.

"How is she?"

"She's not talking."

We all knew it was best to leave her alone; it was the sensible thing to do. So I stayed downstairs with the others for the rest of the afternoon, not really listening too much and trying not to look back at the stairs every ten minutes. I talked Quidditch with Ming and Jess; sat in the common room and let Remus explain intricacies of _The Tell Tail Hart_ that I already understood; I played the game with the rest of the school and pretended everything was alright. I did everything but dwell on the fact that she was upstairs and the only thing I could do for her was to stay away. Whenever I stopped believing this, I asked Remus and Sirius to tell me again.

On Monday evening, I realized that I couldn't sleep anymore and that the pacing wasn't helping. I left the others to there eggshells and took two paper cups of Indian tea upstairs. I wasn't sure what I was going to say when I got there, but I was almost, madly, hoping that it might make her say something; I didn't mind if she got angry, as long as I was close enough to hear her do it.

()

Lily Evans had finally gotten comfortable several hours ago. Sundown had settled itself outside the window across the room; she vaguely noticed a few stars out of the corner of her eye. She was on her side with her left arm under her head, still wearing the plane white blouse, black slacks, and ankle boots she'd had to fight in. A few times, while she'd been awake and driven into relentless, shifting fits of thought, she'd remembered the jokes she'd tossed around with the girls just days before: "Stay on your toes, ladies, and remember: a good soldier is always dressed for battle."

She should've taken her own advice; the soles of her boots hadn't been nearly reliable enough. Her feet had slid underneath her more than once during the fight, and she'd been sure every time that her opponent would be able to walk over and kill her before she had a chance to get up. She had been halfway through the plan to turn this to her advantage before realizing that, somehow, she was still on her feet. At least those memories made her smile.

She felt a stabbing pain behind her eyes and closed them again. How much more sleep before she felt normal? Not that sleep or normalcies were major concerns at the moment; deep down, she wasn't sure she wanted or deserved either. She was just noticing the ache around her kidneys telling her that she needed water, when she heard someone sink into the chair by the side of her bed. She lifted her head and was considering turning over. The chair squeaked a little as its occupant leaned forward.

"Lily."

She turned to face him and watched the moonlight reflect in his glasses. His forearms rested on his knees, and he held Lily's eyes in a way that gave her the feeling he'd look away only if she asked.

"I'd ask how you made it up here," she smiled a little and settled the other arm beneath her, "but I suppose I should be used to these things by now." He smiled and cast his eyes down for only a second before looking back at her.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you…but I had to see if you were alright." She laid her head back down but kept her eyes on him. For a minute, she considered trying to touch his face, but wasn't sure she had the energy.

"I'm better…I went to see Charlotte a few hours ago." James wondered where his mind had been that he hadn't noticed her going up and down the stairs.

"It wasn't your fault, Lily."

"It wasn't supposed to be that way. I should've been able to cover her. I saw him coming…"

"You had no time to do anything. Charlotte'sgood. You trained her yourself; there's no reason she should've needed cover."

"But she's up in hospital now, isn't she?" Lily lowered her voice and shifted up as she spoke.

"At least she's in hospital." James answered quietly.

"And what about next time?" There was silence for a moment before she continued. "Next time, I'll stop them-every one of them under the age of sixteen. I won't have that on my conscience again." James was grateful she couldn't see his face well.

"Lily, I can't imagine any of your girls obeying that particular order--least of all Charlotte Hadley." James was still wondering if he'd really seen her mouth flicker when she finally answered.

"She did put up a good fight."

"I almost felt sorry for the one that tried to take her out." James watched her smile fall as she looked down at her lap.

"I thought they could handle it. It was stupid of me to let them join the Order. I was supposed to protect those girls…they look up to me. What was I thinking?" she closed her eyes as the dull ache returned.

"Would you like me to stay?' the words were out before James realized it. He blushed a little and got up to go, but froze when Lily touched his sleeve.

"Actually…I think I'd like that. I've had enough of being alone for now." She sounded tired, but there was something heavier in her voice that kept his feet in place on the floor.

"You're not really ok, are you?" he asked after a moment of studying her.

"No, not really."

He wasn't used to the weakness in her voice. He sat tentatively on the side of the bed. When she turned her back, he laid down in the space she made for him. James brushed her hair away from the side of her face before laying back and watching the shadows on the ceiling.

.


End file.
